Survival

One race weekend includes the Super Late Models and NASCAR touring cars going head-to-head on Saturday, followed by the NASCAR cars running for points on Sunday. Shepherd says the group knows how a Nextel Cup race can limit attendance at local tracks, so the promoters ordered a JumboTron TV screen to use when NASCAR and the track race on the same days.

"We want this to be the place where people come to watch the Nextel Cup race on the big-screen TV, then stick around to watch their local guys," he says. "Too many other tracks try to fight Nextel Cup. We figure we should take advantage of its popularity and use it for our benefit."

Condren just smiles when asked about the possibility of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, now a rarity on the West Coast.

"That would be nice," he says. "That would be very nice. I think it would work here."

That's sometime down the road. Today, car counts continue to grow and attendance has more than tripled from a year ago, but both are a long way from the days when the stands were crowded and the parking lots full.

"We have to build trust with the drivers and fans," says Condren. "The track didn't get to where it was overnight, and we know that we can't turn it around in a year, either."

"We know it will take time," says Shepherd. "We look at what we are doing as reinvesting into the sport."

The owners knew going into the project that it will be years before they recoup their money and begin making a profit. But they know what needs to be done to make that happen.

"It's all pretty simple," Condren says. "You've got to get activity on the track and butts in the seats. It isn't hard to figure out."

Jerry F. Boone can be reached at Jfboone@aol.com.For more information on Altamont Motorsports Park, visit altamontracing.com.

Wild Times

Back in 1969, Altamont Speedway had a reputation that had nothing to do with racing.

"It was the Woodstock era," says John Condren, the track's current manager and chief investor. The Rolling Stones had just played to a record crowd in London and were looking to repeat the experience on the West Coast.

The promoters planned for a free concert in San Francisco, then the epicenter of the rock and drug culture, but at the last minute realized the site couldn't accommodate the crowd they anticipated.

With only a few days before the performance, the promoters relocated the event to an obscure racetrack an hour outside the city.
"Fans were walking 2 and 3 miles to the track," says Condren. "That's as close as they could park."

The concert promised to be worth the walk, with performances by The Rolling Stones, Santana, The Grateful Dead, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, among others.

"Depending on who you ask, the place had 200,000 to 300,000 people (other estimates put the figure at 400,000)-and it apparently was a clothing-optional crowd-packed in here," he says. "And while there were uniformed police officers on site, The Stones hired the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang to work security."

It was a recipe for disaster.Seconds after the Stones took the stage, the security force jumped on a fan, stabbing him to death within seconds. Stories differ about whether he shot at the Stones, simply had a gun, or was simply a black man in a mostly white crowd. The police immediately shut the show down, while The Stones and their entourage were whisked away in helicopters.

"You can imagine how the crowd reacted when they saw their lead act being taken away by helicopter," he says. "I guess it got pretty ugly, especially for California in the '60s."

Three other people died at the concert. One drowned and two were run over while they slept. Altamont is considered by many social scientists as the beginning of the end of the '60s era, when peace and love turned ugly.

"A lot of locals talk fondly of that concert," Condren adds. "A lot of others just wish everyone would forget about it."-J.F.B.